Scientists produce large quantities of RNA by transcription in vitro rather than

Question

Scientists produce large quantities of RNA by transcription in vitro rather than by expression of cloned genes in vivo primarily because

(a) in vitro transcription removes the need to clone the gene for the RNA into a DNA vector.
(b) the viral RNA polymerases used for in vitro transcription are not active in vivo.
(c) RNA molecules are present in only a few copies per cell and thus only small amounts of RNA can be prepared in vivo.
(d) in vitro transcription eliminates the need to purify the RNA produced from the cell’s RNA molecules.

Explanation / Answer

A, C, and D are certainly all good answers (B is correct but not a very good choice here), but the reason I always made RNA in vitro was specifically A. By using in vitro methods, you do not have to insert your gene into a plasmid then transform bacteria then select for positive colonies then grow up cultures... it goes on and on. You simply transcribe your DNA using viral polymerases and isolate the resulting mRNA. Very simple.

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